Surgical clasp



July 19, 1938. GCSSRAU 2,123,890 T SURGICAL CLASP Filed NOV. 28, 1956lnvemor Q ofTHA/eb Gan-HA0.

By Afforney i Patented July 19, 193

PATEN'E OFFE SURGIIGAL CLASP Gotthard Gossrau, Bitterfeld, Germany,assignor,

by mesne assignments, to Magnesium Development Corporation, acorporation of Delaware Application November 28, 1936, Serial No.113,170

Germany June 3, 1933 2 Claims. (Cl. 128-325) I The present inventionrelates to improvements in surgical clasps.

For surgical purposes, for example for the underbinding and tying ofveins, etc. metal 5 clasps made from silver, German silver, and

aluminium-alloys are frequently employed. Magnesium metal which, incontradistinction to the aforesaid metals or alloys, is resorbed' by thehuman or animal body without any difiiculty, and which therefore wouldappear to be an unsurpassable clasp material for these purposes, has,however, up-to-date not been employed to any great extent, the reasonbeing that the production of clasps having a sumcient strength andrigidity when applied to the body requires the employment of magnesiumin the form of wire or ribbon of such a thickness that a bending of thematerial in the cold is impossible.

One of the objects of the present invention consists in devising a formof clasp for surgical purposes which enables the use ofmagnesium ribbonor tape of. a thinness which will allow of a bending of the unfoldedclasp without any risk of its breaking. The necessary rigidity of theclasp, the material of which would be too weak in itself, is, accordingto the present invention, achieved by a suitable shaping operation whichtakes placeonly after the ribbon or tape forming the clasp has beenapplied to the vein to be tied. According to the preferred embodiment ofthe present invention such suitable shaping is brought about byindenting or bending the folded clasp along a linein parallel with thelongitudinal extension of. the clasp with the aid of a suitable tool.

E In the annexed drawing, Figures 1a, 1b and 1c are representative ofthe various stages of applying the clasp according to the presentinvention to the body, whilst Figure 2 is a frontal 420 view of a pairof tongs to be employed in adjusting and bending the clasp, and Figure2a a view of one of the jaws of the tongs in a position at right anglesto that shown in Figure 2.

According to a preferred embodiment of the Q5 invention, a strip ofmagnesium sheet of 0.05 mm. thickness, being 15 mms. long and 5 mms.wide, is bent in U-shape fashion according to Figure 1a, the middlesection being 7 mms. long and the two sides being 2 mms. and 6 mms.long, respectively.

The middle section i thus formed is then, with the aid of the tongs,brought into position around the vein 2 to be tied, and by closing thetongs first brought into the shape according to Figure and thus securelyprevents the clasp from re- 10 opening by itself.

In adjusting the clasp, there is preferably made use of the toolaccording to Figures 2 and 2a. This tool consists of a pair of tongs ofthe usual surgical form, of which the jaws i and 5 are 15 suitablyshaped to receive the unfolded clasp and to produce the longitudinalbend in the clasp after folding. To this end, one of the jaws isprovided with a chamfer or furrow t corresponding in cross-section tothe cross-section of the clasp in its final form, whilst the other lawis provided with a ridge 5 adapted to register with the chamfer orfurrow 4. In order to retain the unfolded clasp in its position, a metalframe 6 is attached to the first-named jaw which sur- 25 rounds thechamfer or furrow d.

In using the tongs, the strip of magnesium bent according to Figure 1ais inserted in the trough formed by the frame 6 and then folded aroundthe vein to be tied in the usual manner, 30 the jaws of. the tongs, onclosing, first compressing the strip into the form shown in Figure 1?).On the further exercise of pressure the bend 3 as shown in Figure .1c,is formed in the clasp by chamfer or furrow l registering with ridge 5so 35 that finally the clasp tied around the vein assumes the form shownin Figure 1c. The clasp is then securely fastened and effectivelyprevented from re-opening.

I claim: 40

1. A surgical clasp consisting of a folded piece" of. ribbon or tape ofmagnesium metal being bent along a line in parallel with itslongitudinal axis.

2. A surgical clasp consisting of a folded piece of ribbon or tape ofmagnesium metal so as to form a base and two sides overlapping eachother,

' such folded piece being bent along a line in parallel with itslongitudinal

